Rhinos versus Flamingos

AM

Least: When I woke at 10:00am, it became clear that the morning period would produce no activity. Aside from lugging the vast bags of plastics down to the road, not much happened, and with only two hours left had little chance of doing so. Every night, I plan to rise early and go for a walk, or do something useful, but recently its promise has never been realised. If it wasn't like daylight outside the balcony all night, I could leave the curtains open and rise with the sun. No hope.

Most: By 10:20am, I had scanned all of the relevant websites and television channels in search of analysis of last night's historic change in government. Like most Japanese, I have spoken to there was general hope for change, but with little indication of what change is required. Perhaps the change is an unknown unknown and people just haven't been conscious of what they might possibly be missing. Maybe Japanese society will be able to climb out of it's weird post war funk (although sometimes I feel like it could be 1905 still). The trains still ran on time and the tram still shook our flat every five minutes - so it goes.

PM

Least: At exactly 12:54pm, I had finished the gruelling process of paying the rent through an ATM down at MUFJ Bank. Aside from the insurmountable language barrier, there seems a ridiculous number of options to choose from. Being the end of the month, the queue was especially long as people spent many minutes feeding cards and booklets into the machines, paying bills and such. It's been seven months but rent day has never approached being easy or interesting.

Most: Sometime after 9:35pm, I sat on the Midosuji line between Abiko and Tennoji thoroughly drained from a day of slicing flash cards. My minor cheer came from reading the subway courtesy posters (photo right). The theme of the advertisements is to discourage people from rushing onto the train and forcing the doors. Rather than use graven images of human beings, the Osaka Municipal Transportation Bureau chose zoo animals to drive the point home. Cartoony drawings of a gorilla, a herd of Rhinos and a snake are depicted barging onto the train  terrifying a spectacled dog and several flamingoes - it's a jungle out there.

Mandai Ike to Nakamozu

AM

Least: At about 8.15 I took the bottles and cans downstairs and left them on the road. The rubbish collection process in Japan is complicated - plastics on Monday, combustibles on Tuesdays and Fridays and bottles and cans on the second and forth Thursday of the month. Most of the rubbish is incinerated.

Most: Between 8:35 and 9:10 I waded through the humidity around Mandai Ike. I walked 5 or 6 laps. I saw visored Tezukayama Queens warming up for and performing their fan-yoga - the opening fans sound like the crackle of carbines in a firing squad. I saw birds waiting for a luckless fish, a large bee, turtles loafing about, dragon flies patrolling, sparrows and starlings scavenging and crows waiting for a scrap. The old men were either fishing or simply wasting time - all were smoking.

PM

Least: I went to the ATM at our local UFJ bank. I called on the machine to give me instructions in English. It responded favourably to my request, however at a volume too high for comfort. People turned their heads.
Most: At Nakamozu, I had just finished reading a very strange letter from an obsessed student when I was summoned to the window to look at fire-engines. The fire-engines and police were attending an apparent suicide at Nakamozu Nankai station. I saw the sheet and the body bag being carried away from the tracks. Withing 20mins the trains were up and running again.